The Age of Skywalker
by Rigil Kent
Summary: For Lord Vader, all was right in the galaxy. Dark AU, Oneshot


**THE AGE OF SKYWALKER**

**Genre:** Drama, wildly AU  
**Summary: **For Lord Vader, all was right in the galaxy. Dark AU  
**Disclaimer: **I own a big fat nothing. Not my hopes. Not my dreams. Nothing. All were pawned off to pay for school. And even that wasn't enough…  
**Challenge Rules: **Written for TFN'sBad to the Bone challenge: Take a Star Wars character and write an AU where this person has gone bad. Jedi, pilot, princess or pirate use your creativity to portray a canon personality in all their evil glory.

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All was right in the galaxy.

His head held high, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and Emperor of the Galaxy, looked upon his family with silent pride. He was seated in the towering throne overlooking the immense ball room that Palpatine had favored, and from his vantage point, he could see all. Nothing escaped his notice.

Which was as it should be.

His firstborn stood among the cluster of senior military officers, speaking with the casual authority of a man who knew his place in the scheme of things. Dressed entirely in black, Luke's golden eyes glittered as he issued instructions, and he knew they would be obeyed without delay. Already, the admirals and moffs were nodding, and Vader could sense their desperate desire to be somewhere else – _anywhere_ else – at this moment. Two decades had passed since Vader had found the boy on Alderaan and begun to train him, nine years since they toppled Palpatine and enforced true peace upon the galaxy, and in that time, Luke had become the perfect Heir.

Two steps behind Luke stood his consort, the assassin, Jade. Her gimlet eyes never stopped moving as she watched the assembled officers for any threat directed toward her master, and Vader suspected the admirals were more intimidated by how she studied them than they were by Luke's notoriously fickle reputation. How the boy had managed to acquire her loyalty remained unknown, even to Vader's talents, but there was no denying that she would die before letting her master come to harm. It was generally unwise to attract her notice…

Especially if one was a female who had the misfortune of drawing Luke's eye.

On the other side of the ball room stood Leia, Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium, and her entourage. Like her brother, her upbringing had been entrusted to Bail Organa by that fool, Kenobi; unlike Luke, however, she had thrived within the Coruscanti nobility once Vader had them brought to him, and the lessons she had learned at the knee of women such as Ysanne Isard had molded her into a political animal who was utterly without remorse. She had wed Isolder for dynastic reasons, but rarely bothered to hide her contempt for the man. Instead, she flaunted her liaison with Admiral Solo, the Corellian who commanded her battle fleet and warmed her bed. It was common knowledge that Solo had fathered her children, but none dared to question the legitimacy of the twins. Jaina would rule Hapes when her mother died, and Jacen would enter Imperial service.

"The Alliance has been broken, Father," Luke announced softly as he stepped upon the raised dais where Vader sat. The boy and his sister were the only two allowed to do so, a symbol of their high status, and Luke made a point of it whenever there were others to witness. Jade, the boy's silent shadow, was exactly two steps behind him, her impassive face a warning to all that this conversation was not for their ears. "Mothma is being sent to us in shackles," Luke continued.

"You have done well, my son," Vader rumbled. He sensed something, and gave the boy a sidelong glance. Recognizing the unspoken cue, Luke spoke.

"We should simply execute her without fanfare, Father," the boy said calmly. "A public trial will only turn her into a martyr." Luke smiled, a dark and vicious expression. "Allow her name to fade into obscurity, so her cause is completely defeated." Vader nodded.

"See to it, my son," he instructed. Luke bowed at the waist and flowed down the stairs, Jade sliding into step behind him. The crowd parted easily – and quickly, Vader noted – as the pair strode toward the exit. Waiting Royal Guardsmen and Noghri death commandos flanked them once they were clear of the room.

"Another mission for him, Father?" Leia asked as she joined him atop the dais. She was holding a wineglass, but Vader doubted she was actually imbibing. Her paranoia was nearly as acute as his. "I'm jealous," she said with a faux pout. "Luke gets to have _all_ the fun."

"He does my bidding, daughter," Vader said as he glanced in her direction. She smiled sweetly, though he could see her lingering frustration at being shackled to Hapes. "When I have need of blunt force," he told her, "I shall once more call upon you and your Corellian." Leia laughed aloud, drawing looks that were quickly averted when Solo – the man who had outdrawn the legendary Gallandro – glared at them and caressed the hilt of his blaster.

Underneath his helmet, Vader smiled. All was right in the galaxy.

For the Age of Skywalker had come.


End file.
